American Mall: Lima, Ohio on DeadMalls.com

AMERICAN MALL: LIMA, OH

Mike Samons' Commentary

Posted March 6, 2009 (user submitted)

Hi, I am a nostalgic Lima native reporting that this mall was closed as of Dec 26, 2008 except for the Andersons. As I understand it, the balance of the mall will be demolished soon but I'm not clear about the plans for the property between Andersons and the theaters.

My first recollections of this mall involve jumping along the tiles as a 3-year old in the mid-70s so I can relate quite a bit of history. I believe back then there was a even a fountain.

Value City (Cleveland-based, I believed) opened around 1982 and was a big hit given the sour economy of that time, and I stopped in there as recently as 2007 while killing time before a movie. Before Value City there was a similar discount chain store called Kings and before that (as I am told) it was called Wells.

The opposite anchor Andersons opened in the early 90s and followed Burlington Coat Factory. The original anchor was Montgomery Ward until the late 90s, and they had an auto service building in the south parking lot where I spent a lot of time waiting with my folks back in the day.

Youngstown-based Phar-Mor was there through most of the 90s until the company fell into financial problems. In the early 80s there was a store called Century that was a catalog showroom similar to Service Merchandise.

At the northeast corner, in the 80s and early 90s was a fairly popular family restaurant called Parissons (sp?) that later became a place with a bar and live music.

Almost forgot, at the northwest corner next to then-Montgomery Ward was a Pangles grocery, and I always thought it was cool that they had a roller-conveyor to take your groceries outside. (local note: Pangles was the predecessor to the current Lima-area grocery Rays, named for Ray Pangle as I understand)

Other long-time included Thom Mcann shoes, Carnival shoes, a Radio Shack (not surprising), Baskin Robins, and a duplex theater.

It's definitely been sad to see the place go down over the years, but times change and the mall scene in general just isn't what it used to be.

Blake Hutchison's Commentary:

Posted August 4, 2005 (user submitted)

Some malls die because the anchors pull out. Not the case with the American Mall in Lima, Ohio.

The American Mall has always been different from your typical mall. For one thing, it is anchored by a Value City (a Columbus-based discount chain), The Andersons (a hardware/grocery store), and Phar-Mor was a third anchor until 2003.

Lima has two malls, both built in the 1960's. The Lima Mall is just like a regular mall with anchors like JCPenney, Sears, and Macys. The American Mall was more of a working-class mall, with anchors like Value City and Burlington Coat Factory (which closed in 1989 and was replaced by The Andersons about four years later. Value City may be an original anchor, but I'm not sure on that.

I visited this mall in 2002 and it appeared to be about 70-75% occupied. Phar-Mor announced plans to close 80 stores in Ohio later that year, but the Lima store was one of the stores to be spared, at least for a year or so. I believe the entire chain closed in 2003, and this was one of the last stores to close.

At this point, the interior of the mall is nothing more than a way to get from Value City to the Andersons without walking outside. Aside from the anchors, the only remaining stores are GNC, Rogers Jewelers, two mom-and-pop stores that sell urban wear, a specialty window store that never seems to be open, an arcade with five game choices, all circa 1985, and a barber shop that appears to have been here forever.

The only reason this mall hasn't been shuttered is because Value City does such good business here, and they don't have an outside entrance, so you actually have to enter the dark corridors (which feel like a cave in places) to shop in the store. The Andersons does good business in the area, but since there are no stores in the mall near the Andersons, I'm surprised they haven't already shuttered their mall entrances. Regal Cinemas plans to open a 12-screen movie theater with stadium seats in late 2005, which could attract other businesses, so the American Mall may still come back to life.

Jeff Dingledine’s Commentary:

User submitted in 2024

I worked in this mall as well in 2 different stores in the 90's which were Software Gallery and Computers Plus. They were both locally owned companies that are now out of business. Some stores I remember being there beyond what was already listed were Children's Palace, Readmore Books, Hallmark, Sabarro, Shoe Carnival, Deb / Stefanno Man, and Claires. Computers Plus also had a partnership with Surge.net which was based inside the Computers Plus store. It was a local Internet access company that was later bought out by WCOIL back in the days of dial up internet. Lots of good memories in that mall.

James Burdett’s Commentary:

User submitted Oct 2007

I have additional information regarding the American Mall in Lima, Ohio. When it opened in 1966, the two anchor stores were Montgomery Ward (which had moved there from downtown Lima's Public Square) and Bailey's Department Store. Bailey's was a small chain of department stores out of Cleveland. The stores in the Mall's interior, between these two anchors, were initially somewhat upscale- Town & Country Furniture and the Seven Seas Gift Shoppe come to mind. There was also a movie theater (the first movie theater in Lima to be located outside of downtown or older neighborhoods).

My recollection is that the opening of this mall was quite a civic event, with Hollywood actress Dorothy Lamour attending the ribbon-cutting. I am not aware of Ms. Lamour's connection to the mall or Lima, but by 1966 she was past her Hollywood prime and may be she was available. Could someone confirm the Lamour connection?

Bailey's did not last long and was quickly replaced by Welles Department Store. Welles also had a store in Lima's Northland Plaza (is there a website devoted to dead strip centers? If so, Northland should be included). Welles was definitely a discount store in the mold of K-Mart and was eventually replaced by Value City.

Montgomery Ward continued into the 1980s and then was replaced by Burlington Coat Factory and then The Andersons. The nicer stores in the interior were gone by the 1970s-1980s, and the movie theater closed at some point and I understand the interior remains mostly deserted today. There is a recently opened 12-screen theater nearby, and much in the way of suburban development, so things could change.

Chris Bonifas’s Commentary:

User submitted Aug 2007

Dear sirs,

I have lived in Delphos, Ohio which is about 15 miles from Lima. I have been to the American Mall many times even had my hair cut at the barber shop there. As of about a year ago The Anderson's shut down all the entrances that allowed you yo enter the mall from the store. Over the past couple years there has been talk of the mall becoming an outdoor mall. I was told at one point this mall even contained a movie theater. The Pharm that was in the store was turned into a Goodwill store shortly after the Pharm's closure.

Josh’s Commentary:

User submitted Aug 2007

I grew up in Lima and moved away for college a few years back. I remember going to the movie theater inside the mall when I was a kid mid 80's early 90's with my sister and mom. It was great because the mall would be closed except the theater. So I thought I was a big guy since I got to go into the mall "after hours". We went shopping at Phar Mor all the time. It was still in business when my wife and I moved away, we were both surprised to find it closed coming back to town to visit. Also there was a great arcade in one wing of the mall called Superman (anyone correct me if the name is wrong but I believe it is correct). I loved Burlington Coat Factory and was shocked when that went out. Value City always seemed dirty even when the mall actually had stores to shop in. I actually took drum lessons in a music shop in the early 90's. Also those green lights in the ceiling are not original. They are rather new to the mall. We moved in 2003 and they were not up yet. The
mall now is mainly used for older people to walk around. I was also surprised when two of the three newest movie theaters closed down and merged into the huge theater next to the mall. Very stupid placement (they raised ticket pricing up to 9 bucks a person) unless they know something the public doesn't.

Mike Samons' Commentary

Blake Hutchison's Commentary:

Jeff Dingledine’s Commentary:

Chris Hersey’s Commentary:

Chris Bonifas’s Commentary:

James Burdett’s Commentary:

Chris Bonifas’s Commentary:

Josh’s Commentary: